Xïlusia/Lesson 1
There are two different writing systems: Latin and Shavian. The Shavian writing system is used strictly in the Eastern dialect, while the Northern and Southern dialects tend to use Latin. This lesson focuses on learning the Latin alphabet, in which many letters differ from their English counterparts. IPA is marked in brackets. History The Latin alphabet was adopted in 1940, but the extremely messy orthography caused to people to desire a nicer orthography. Linguist Ẋerica Vùėntik travelled to the United States in 1982 and learned about the Shavian alphabet, a previously failed writing system for English. She adapted in to fit the phonology of Xïlusia and campaigned for its adoption. In 1987, the House of Powers in the Eastern District of Carthays island decided to mandate its teachings in schools. Class I vowels There are eleven vowels in Xïlusia, five of which belong to class I. Class I vowels and the letter "y" j/ɪ can be combined with a grave (`) or acute (´) accent. a''' - like in f'a'ther a '''e - like in caf'é' e i''' - like in fr'ee'ze i '''o - like in o'''ld o '''u - like in l'oo'p u The acute accent is added when j comes before the vowel. For example, áf is pronouned "yawf" jaf. The grave accent is added when ɪ follows the vowel. For example, b'èb' is pronounced like the English word "babe" beɪb Class II vowels These vowels are marked with a dot above (except for ï, which is marked with a diaresis due to the tittle in the original letter). When the j/ɪ sound is adjoined to the vowel, the letter "ỳ" must be used rather than mark it with a diacritic. ȧ''' - like in 'u'mbrella ə 'ė '- like in 'a'pple æ '''ï - like in i'll ɨ 'ȯ - no English equivalent, similar to ö''' in German and Swedish or '''ø in Norwegian and Danish ø ẏ''' - no English equivalent, similar to '''ü in German or y''' in the Scandinavian languages y '''å - like in a'''ll ɔ Consonants Consonants are marked by a variety of diacritics. Some consonant clusters are represented by a single letter and are considered as individual letters. '''b - like in b'''ald b '''c - a "t" and "y" pronounced together (this is a simplified version of c) tj ci - like in ch'air ʧ 'ć - no English equivalent, similar to ch in German x ɔ''' - no English equivalent, similar to '''r in French (the symbol "ɔ" is seen as an inverted "c" rather than an open "o") ʁ d''' - like in 'd'og d '''dy - a "d" and "y" pronounced together (this is a simplified version of ɟ) dj f''' - like in 'f'ool, but slightly harder ɸ '''g - like in y'et, but slightly harder ʝ 'ǵ - like in th'e (before a, ȧ, o, ȯ, u, ẏ, and å) ð 'ḡ - like in g'''oat g '''h - like in h'eat ç 'ħ - like in th'''ump (the symbol is seen as a ligature of "t" and "h") θ '''j - like in trea's'''ure (before ȧ, ȯ, ẏ, and å) ʒ '''zi' - like in trea's'''ure (before a, o, and u) ʒ '''j' - like in th'''e (before e, i, ė, and ï) (because there are two different sounds made by the letter, it is considered to be a different letter, even though the symbol is the same) ð '''k - like in c'''offee k '''l - like in l'''emon l '''lz - an "l" and a "z" pronounced at the same time ɮ m''' - like in 'm'ouse m '''ṁ - like in hu'ms' mz n''' - like in 'n'oose n '''ṅ - nasalizes the vowel it follows (it never follows a consonant), like in French or Portuguese ˜ ǹ''' - an "n" and a "y" pronounced at the same time (this is a simple version of ɲ) nj '''p - like in p'''ull p '''r - like in wr'''ong ɹ '''rd - no English equivalent, like a Spanish "rr", but with a single trill ɾ rr - no English equivalent, like a Spanish "rr" r ŕ''' - like an "rd" and a "d" pronounced together ɾd '''s - like in sh'''ip (before e, ė, i, and ï) ʃ '''si - like in sh'ip (before a, ȧ, o, ȯ, u, ẏ, and å) ∫ 'ś - like in s'''eat s '''t - like in t'''ime t '''tâ - a "t" and a "v" pronounced together tv v''' - like in 'v'iolin v '''viù - like in w'''in w '''vù - like in wh'''ite ʍ '''x - like in li'ds' ʣ ẋ''' - like in ca'''ts ʦ ẍ''' - like in ca'''lls ʫ y''' - like in 'y'et j '''ỳ - functions as i or j in diphthongs with class II vowels z''' - like in trea's'''ure (before e, ė, i, and ï) ʒ 'ż - like in z'oom z 'ź - like in bri'dg'e ʤ Practice Exercise Practice saying these words: ħute ẍivo ǹordi óvùïp bzilze åɔe ǵrdin ḡò ger ćacat serȯ ẏṁe ïṅtakỳȧdyi Listen to the words in the video and write them down. Compare to those in the video to your answer.